Iron including an additive reservoir

ABSTRACT

An iron including an additive reservoir and a device for spreading the additive onto an article. The reservoir contains at least one additive packaged in the form of microcapsules in suspension in a liquid, the microcapsules having membranes made of a material that is chemically compatible with the materials of the device used for spreading the additive.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a clothes pressing iron and moreparticularly to an iron that includes a device for supplying an additiveto articles being ironed.

Patent documents FR 2 804 137 and EP 0 554 166 disclose irons thatinclude an additive reservoir associated with a spray device enabling anadditive to be sprayed onto articles being ironed in order to supply afragrance, improve the sliding behavior of the iron, or improveproperties of the article, e.g. in order to soften it or improve itsstrength.

In order to be usable with such spreading, or spraying, devices, theadditive must possess a viscosity that is compatible with the spreaderdevice, must be chemically neutral relative to the materials of thespreader device, and in particular relative to the reservoir, and shouldpreferably be soluble and concentratable in water. Such constraintspresent the drawback of considerably restricting the choice of additiveand excluding otherwise more effective additives.

In addition, when the additive used is a fragrance, spraying thefragrance on the article leads also to strong diffusion of the fragranceinto the atmosphere, which can lead to the atmosphere becoming fragrantwith an intensity that can be disagreeable to those present.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the present invention provides an iron constructed to remedy thosedrawbacks.

To this end, the iron according to the invention has a reservoircontaining an additive, and includes a device for spreading, orspraying, the additive on the article being ironed. The iron accordingto the invention is characterized in that the reservoir contains atleast one additive packaged in the form of microcapsules in suspensionin a liquid, the microcapsules being composed of membranes made of amaterial that is chemically compatible with the materials of the deviceused for spreading the additive. Each membrane encapsulates a smallquantity of the additive.

The term “chemically compatible” is used to designate a material thatdoes not perceptibly degrade the materials of the device for spreadingadditives over the lifetime of the iron.

Micro-encapsulation of the additive presents the advantage ofeliminating direct contact between the additive and the elements of thedevice for spreading the additive, thereby making it possible to reduceproblems of chemical attack or clogging associated with the nature ofthe additive.

In addition, micro-encapsulating the additive makes it possible, withoutadding any additional agent, to use additives that are insoluble inwater, and that are not suitable for being concentrated or diluted inorder to be spread on articles under good conditions.

Micro-encapsulating the additive also makes it possible, without usingan emulsifier, to prepare suspensions that are homogenous and stablewith an equivalent concentration of additive lying in the range >0 to45% by weight, while conserving a viscosity that is very low andsuitable for all delivery systems.

When using an additive that is sensitive to a rise in temperature, suchas essential oils, micro-encapsulation also presents the advantage ofpreventing the additive from losing its effectiveness when the additivereservoir is subjected to high temperatures following an ironingsession.

Finally, micro-encapsulating the additive presents the advantage ofpreventing the additive from diffusing into the atmosphere while beingspread by the device. This prevents the user from inhaling the additivewhile using the device.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, themicrocapsules are in suspension in water.

The water which is then used for conveying the microcapsules alsopresents the advantage of dampening the article being ironed, therebymaking ironing easier.

According to another characteristic of the iron of invention, theadditive contained in the microcapsules consists of or comprises afragrance.

According to another characteristic of the iron of invention, theadditive contained in the microcapsules consists of or comprises ananti-odor active substance such as undecylenic acid.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, theliquid in which the microcapsules are in suspension itself contains anadditive of a type other than that contained in the microcapsules, suchas an additive suitable for improving sliding of the iron.

Such a characteristic presents the advantage of enabling additives to beobtained that have two effects, a first effect that is immediate,associated with the additive contained in the liquid carrying themicrocapsules, and a second effect that is delayed, associated with theadditive contained in the microcapsules.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, thedevice for spreading the additive on articles is a spray device.

Such a device presents the advantage of being simple and well suited tothe use of a micro-encapsulated additive, given that themicro-encapsulation of the additive makes it possible to avoid excessivediffusion of the additive into the atmosphere during spraying.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, thespray device comprises a nozzle fed by a pump.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, theiron is a steam iron and the spray device is a sprayer using the drivingforce of steam.

Such a characteristic presents the advantage of enabling a powerfulspray to be obtained at low cost, with micro-encapsulation of theadditive making it possible to limit to a very great extent the amountof additive that is emitted into the atmosphere as an inherent result ofspraying.

According to another characteristic of the iron of the invention, thereservoir of the iron is removable from the iron.

Such a characteristic makes it easy to fill the reservoir or to exchangeit quickly with another reservoir.

The invention also provides for a removable reservoir for fitting to aniron as described above, the reservoir being characterized in that itcontains at least one additive packaged in the form of microcapsules insuspension in a liquid, the microcapsules having membranes made of amaterial that is chemically compatible with the materials of thereservoir.

An iron according to the invention can, of course, be used to performany ironing operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The objects, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will bebetter understood from the following description of particularembodiments of the invention given as non-limiting examples, and withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general elevational view of an iron fitted with an additivereservoir according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of theinvention as an iron associated with an external steam generator;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of theinvention applied as an iron including another additive delivery system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the chemical structure of a membranematerial used in the practice of the present invention.

Only those elements that are necessary for understanding the inventionare shown. To make the drawings easier to read, when the same elementsappear in more than one figure, they are given the same referencecharacters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a steam iron conventionally comprising a hot soleplate 1and a steam chamber fed from a main reservoir that is not shown in thefigure.

The iron also has a spray device comprising a piston pump 2 fed from anadditive reservoir 3 and connected to a spray nozzle 4. The additivereservoir 3 is preferably in the form of a cassette that is removablymounted on the body of the iron.

More particularly, in the invention, additive reservoir 3 containsmicrocapsules in suspension in a liquid, the microcapsules containing anadditive. These microcapsules are preferably constituted by capsuleshaving polymeric walls and having a diameter of a few micrometers, andthey are prepared using a method that is known in itself, for exampleusing one of the methods described in French patents FR 1 334 918 and FR2 548 046.

By way of example, the membranes constituting the walls of themicrocapsules can be made of melamine-formaldehyde so as to bechemically inert relative to plastics materials of the polypropylenetype from which the spray device, and in particular the additivereservoir, are conventionally made. For example, the membrane materialmay be hexamethylolmelamine formed by a polycondensation reaction ofmelamine and formaldehyde. The final hardened state of this compositionwill have a three dimensional formation having the form shown in FIG. 4.

Advantageously, the microcapsules may contain a fragrance and the liquidin which they are in suspension is water. Thus, when the user actuatespump 2, water and microcapsules from reservoir 3 are sprayed throughnozzle 4 and are thus deposited on the fibers of the article beingironed.

Such spraying takes place with little dispersion of the fragrance intothe atmosphere, since the fragrance remains contained in themicrocapsules. The fragrance in the microcapsules is released into thematerial of the article when the microcapsule membranes are broken,either when mechanical stress is applied thereto, e.g. by passing theiron over the microcapsules or by handling the article, or elseprogressively over time, with the main mode of release being easilyselected as a function of the size of the capsules and as a function oftheir wall thickness. The force necessary to break the membranes dependsprimarily on the size of the microcapsules, the nature of the membranematerial and the ambient humidity level. The smaller the microcapsules,the greater the force needed to rupture the membranes. The microcapsulesize can vary between 1 μm with 1 mm. Preferably, according to thepresent invention, the size is between 1 μm and 2 μm and the thicknessof the capsule membranes is approximately 0.1 μm to 0.2 μm. Thematerials used for the membranes may resist attack by the perfumes ormay be porous. The lower the ambient humidity, the more fragile aremicrocapsules. In the presence of steam or other moisture, themicrocapsules are less likely to be broken by passage of the iron, whileeven gentle rubbing of dry fabric will be sufficient to break them.

Such an iron in which the spray pump is fed with a micro-encapsulatedfragrance thus presents the advantage of enabling a fragrance to beapplied to an article while it is being ironed in a manner that issimple and fast, while avoiding excessive release of fragrance into theatmosphere so that applying the fragrance remains pleasant for the user.

Micro-encapsulating the fragrance also keeps the fragrance contained inthe reservoir from losing its strength, particularly under the effect ofa high temperature in the reservoir when the iron is in use.

Such use of a micro-encapsulated fragrance also presents the advantageof making it possible to use a wide variety of fragrances, and inparticular fragrances that, if they were not encapsulated, would degradethe spray device, and in particular the walls of the reservoir.

Finally, micro-encapsulating the fragrance makes it possible to delaydiffusion of the fragrance, and the diffusion and remanance parameterscan be modified by modifying the size and the wall thickness of thecapsules.

In a variant embodiment, the microcapsules in suspension in the liquidmay contain a known antibacterial or anti-odor active principle, such asundecylenic acid (CH₂═CH(CH₂)₈COOH). This additive may be associatedwith a fragrance in such a manner as to apply a fragrance to the articlewhile simultaneously impregnating the article with the anti-odoradditive.

Such a variant embodiment presents the advantage of making it possible,by performing an operation that is simple and fast, to apply ananti-odor active principle whose action over time will be prolonged byprogressive release of the active principle in the article as themicrocapsules are progressively ruptured during handling of the article.

In another variant embodiment, the liquid in which the additivemicrocapsules are contained in the reservoir could itself contain anadditive, preferably different from the additive contained in themicrocapsules, such that the additive contained in the reservoir and theadditive contained in the microcapsules enable two separate effects tobe obtained.

By way of example, the liquid, such as water, in which the microcapsulesare in suspension could contain silicone in order to enhance sliding ofthe iron, as described in European patent application EP 1 201 818.

In this variant, the water containing the silicone additive is sprayeddirectly onto the article, making it possible to obtain an immediateimprovement in the sliding of the iron. Conversely, the additivecontained in the microcapsules projected by the spray pump is releasedonly progressively during passage of the iron or while the article isbeing handled.

This is made possible by appropriately selecting the liquid carrying themicrocapsules, the material of the microcapsules, and the additive,which remain immiscible.

A device is thus obtained for spraying additives having two effects: animmediate effect associated with the additive contained in the liquidcarrying the microcapsules, and a deferred effect associated with theadditive contained in the microcapsules.

In another variant embodiment, the microcapsules in suspension in theliquid of the reservoir could contain different types of additive. Thus,certain microcapsules in the reservoir might contain fragrance, whileother microcapsules might contain an anti-odor or antibacterial activeprinciple, or any other substance. Microcapsules containing more thantwo different types of additive could also be provided.

FIG. 2 shows an application of the invention to a smoothing ironassociated with an external steam generator (not shown in the figure).

In FIG. 2, the iron has a steam feed hose, or tube, 11 supplying steamunder pressure to a spray device comprising a valve 12 controlled by apushbutton 13 and a spray nozzle 14 disposed at the front of the iron.

Spray nozzle 14 is fed with steam through valve 12 and includes aVenturi into which there opens one end of a tube 15 that is housed in anadditive reservoir 16 located under nozzle 14. The opposite, inlet, endof tube 15 is positioned near the bottom of reservoir 16. Reservoir 16is preferably in the form of a removable cassette, and in accordancewith the invention it contains at least one additive packaged inmicrocapsules that are in suspension in a liquid.

The liquid supporting, or suspending, the microcapsules, and theadditive contained in the microcapsules, are advantageously selectedfrom various examples described above, although other types of additivescan also be employed according to the invention.

The operation of the spray device of the iron is described below.

When the user seeks to apply fragrance to an article, a reservoir 16 isinserted into the front of the iron, the reservoir containingmicrocapsules of fragrance in suspension in a liquid, which may consistof water, or water with another ingredient, or a non-aqueous liquid. Bypressing on button 13 that controls valve 12, the user causes the steamproduced by the steam generator and supplied via tube 11 to pass throughnozzle 14 and escape into the atmosphere. The flow of steam as createdin this way sucks up the water together with the microcapsules locatedin the tube 15 by the Venturi effect, so that the liquid and themicrocapsules contained in the reservoir 16 are propelled onto thearticle by the steam.

Such a spray device using the driving force of steam presents theadvantage of being powerful, inexpensive, and particularly advantageouswhen it is used in combination with a micro-encapsulated additive.Packaging the additive in capsules makes it possible to significantlyreduce the dispersive effect inherent in such a steam spray device. Itthen becomes possible to apply fragrance to articles without thatleading to excessive fragrance being released into the ambient air.

FIG. 3 shows the invention applied to a smoothing steam iron that has adelivery system in which the additive is diluted in a delivery deviceprior to being sprayed on the article.

As shown in this figure, the iron has an electric pump 21 controlled bya pushbutton 22, a main water reservoir 23 for feeding a steam chamber(not shown in the figure) that communicates with steam outlet holes inthe iron soleplate, and a preferably removable additive reservoir 24placed on the front top portion of the body of the iron.

Electrical power is supplied to pump 21 by two wires 25 connected to thepower mains. As shown, one of these wires is connected to an on/offswitch that is operated by depressing pushbutton 22, and pump 21 has twofluid inlets connected respectively to additive reservoir 24 and to atube 26 extending into main water reservoir 23. Pump 21 has a mixingchamber in which water coming from main reservoir 23 is mixed with theliquid coming from additive reservoir 24 and pump 21 further has anoutlet connected to one end of a tube, or conduit, whose other end isconnected to a spray nozzle 27.

In this embodiment, the microcapsules contained in the additivereservoir are present in a high concentration, thus enabling anequivalent concentration of additive to be obtained that is of the orderof 20% by weight, or even more. The additive contained in themicrocapsules is advantageously selected from the various examplesdescribed above.

When the user seeks to treat an article, or articles, with additive,pressing on button 22 closes an electric switch to set pump 21 intooperation. Pump 21 then sucks in water from main reservoir 23 and alsoliquid together with microcapsules from additive reservoir 24, afterwhich it delivers the resulting mixture, in which the additive isdiluted in the water, to spray nozzle 27.

In such an embodiment, the use of a micro-encapsulated additive presentsthe advantage of enabling the additive to be highly concentrated in thereservoir, while retaining low viscosity that is well suited to aconventional pumping device. The high concentration of additive thusmakes it possible to use an additive reservoir of small capacity, whichis thus compact and easy to handle.

Naturally, the invention is not limited in any way to the embodimentsdescribed and shown which are given purely by way of example.Modifications remain possible, particularly concerning the structure ofthe various elements or by substituting with technical equivalents,without thereby going beyond the field of protection of the invention.

For example, in a further embodiment (not shown), the micro-encapsulatedadditive can be introduced directly into the reservoir feeding the steamchamber of the iron, so that the microcapsules are disposed on thearticle through the steam outlet holes in the soleplate. In thisembodiment, micro-encapsulating the additive presents the advantage ofprotecting the coating of the steam chamber against possible chemicalattack by the additive. Micro-encapsulation also makes it possible toprotect the additive from thermal shock, thus enabling the additive toretain its integrity until it reaches the article.

This application relates to subject matter disclosed in FrenchApplication number FR 04 03438, filed on Apr. 1, 2004, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

While the description above refers to particular embodiments of thepresent invention, it will be understood that many modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claimsare intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the truescope and spirit of the present invention.

The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered inall respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of theinvention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than theforegoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

1. An iron comprising: a reservoir for an additive; a device forspreading the additive on an article being ironed; a body of liquidstored in said reservoir; and a plurality of microcapsules containing atleast one additive held in said body of liquid, wherein saidmicrocapsules comprise membranes made of a material that is chemicallycompatible with the materials of said device for spreading the additive.2. The iron according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is water and saidmicrocapsules are suspended in the water.
 3. The iron according to claim2, wherein said at least one additive contained in said microcapsulescomprises a fragrance.
 4. The iron according to claim 3, wherein said atleast one additive contained in the microcapsules comprises an anti-odoractive principle.
 5. The iron according to claim 4, wherein saidanti-odor active principle is undecylenic acid.
 6. The iron according toa claim 4, comprising a second additive in said body of liquid, saidsecond additive being of a type different from that of said additivecontained in said microcapsules.
 7. The iron according to a claim 6,wherein said second additive is a substance suitable for improvingsliding of said iron.
 8. The iron according to claim 6, wherein saiddevice for spreading the additive is a spray device.
 9. The ironaccording to claim 8, wherein said spray device comprises a nozzle fedby a pump.
 10. The iron according to claim 8, wherein said iron is asteam iron and said spray device produces a spray using the drivingforce of steam.
 11. The iron according to claim 10, wherein saidreservoir is removable from said iron.
 12. The iron according to claim1, wherein said device for spreading the additive is a spray device. 13.The iron according to claim 12, wherein said spray device comprises anozzle fed by a pump.
 14. The iron according to claim 12, wherein saidiron is a steam iron and said spray device produces a spray using thedriving force of steam.
 15. The iron according to claim 14, wherein saidreservoir is removable from said iron.
 16. A removable reservoir forfitting to an iron that includes a device for spreading an additive,wherein said reservoir contains at least one additive packaged in theform of microcapsules in suspension in a liquid, the microcapsulescomprising membranes made of a material that is chemically compatiblewith the materials of the reservoir.
 17. The reservoir according toclaim 16, wherein said at least one additive contained in saidmicrocapsules comprises a fragrance.
 18. The reservoir according toclaim 16, wherein said at least one additive contained in themicrocapsules comprises an anti-odor active principle.
 19. The reservoiraccording to a claim 16, comprising a second additive in the liquid,said second additive being of a type different from that of saidadditive contained in said microcapsules.
 20. The reservoir according toa claim 19, wherein said second additive is a substance suitable forimproving sliding of said iron.
 21. The iron according to claim 1wherein the material of said membranes is selected to prevent contactbetween said additive and said device for spreading the additive. 22.The reservoir according to claim 16 wherein the material of saidmembranes is selected to prevent contact between said additive and saiddevice for spreading the additive.